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Scamacca dumped out Liverpool and looks dangerous
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Back Marseille to earn home corners
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Parades to test the referee's patience
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Unbeaten Leverkusen remain huge attacking threat
Marseille v Atalanta (Thu, 20:00)
Leg #1 - Gianluca Scamacca to have 1+ shots on target
The scourge of Liverpool, Gianluca Scamacca, scored two of Atalanta's three goals in La Dea's remarkable 3-0 win over the Reds on Merseyside in the first leg of their quarter-final last month, and the 25-year-old has been in excellent form for a sustained period.
Scamacca has hit at least one shot on target in nine of his last ten appearances in all competitions for Atalanta and the Italian international has managed ait is t least two accurate shots in three of his last four runouts in the Europa League.
The former West Ham man, who has chipped in with nine goal contributions in ten starts in all competitions, is playing with a huge amount of confidence and Scamacca is an attractive prospect in the 1+ shots on target market again on Thursday evening.
Leg #2 - Over 3.5 Marseille corners
With home advantage to harness, Marseille will be eager to play on the front foot in Thursday's first leg against Atalanta at the Orange Vélodrome and a decent corner tally might be in the works for the hosts.
Marseille won eight corners in each leg of their quarter-final double header against Portuguese giants Benfica in the previous round and the French side have won at least four corners in six of their last nine games in the Europa League overall.
It's also interesting to note that Marseille averaged a huge 23 crosses per game in their last six matches in the Europa League and there is usually a correlation between attempted crosses and corners won.
Roma v Bayer Leverkusen (Thu, 20:00)
Leg #3 - Leandro Paredes to be shown a card
29-year-old Roma midfielder Leandro Paredes has been a card magnet this season and incredibly, the Argentinean star has collected 14 yellow cards in 31 appearances in Serie A for the Giallorossi since August.
In the Europa League, Paredes has picked up a more modest two yellow cards in eight starts, however, we expect the hot-headed anchorman to be on the referee's radar on what should be an emotionally charged evening on Thursday.
Paredes has been attempting 3.2 tackles per 90 minutes in the Europa League this season and the ex-PSG destroyer should have a lot of defensive work to get through this week against an attack-minded Bayer Leverkusen outfit.
Paredes has been shown yellow in five of his last nine appearances at the Stadio Olimpico in all competitions and the red-hot atmosphere there on Thursday could inspire some more robust challenges from the midfielder.
Leg #4 - Bayer Leverkusen 4 or more shots on target
Bayer Leverkusen's prowess in the final third has already fired them to title-winning glory in the Bundesliga this season and Die Werkself have also been playing some slick attacking football in the Europa League.
Only the eliminated Liverpool (29) have scored more goals in the competition than Leverkusen (27) so far, while the German side also rank second for average shots mustered per fixture in the tournament (18.1).
In terms of accuracy, Bayer Leverkusen have been registering 6.9 shots on target per outing in the tournament, a tally that makes them the Europa League's third-most potent side in that regard, and the German champions have enough in their armoury to test the Roma defence on Thursday.
Daniele De Rossi's Giallorossi conceded at least four shots on target in all six of their two-legged knockout round fixtures in this season's Europa League against Feyenoord, Brighton and AC Milan, and also shipped 20 or more attempts in their last three matches in the competition.
It's clear from those figures that their backline isn't protected as well as it should be and Bayer Leverkusen are favoured to test Roma stopper Mile Svilar at least four times on Thursday.
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